


Keep You Sheltered From The Storm That's Raging On.

by brooklynbis



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Anxiety, Child Abuse, Depression, F/M, Harry owns a bakery, High School, Larry Stylinson Is Real, Louis teaches English, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Non-Famous Harry, Non-Famous Louis Tomlinson, Panic Attacks, Protective!Louis, Social Services, Violence, Worried!Harry, non band au, probably would be triggering, protective!harry, set in 2018, sleepy larry are the cutest, teacher!Louis, worried!louis, zayn teaches history
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-01-21
Packaged: 2019-10-14 04:59:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17502044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brooklynbis/pseuds/brooklynbis
Summary: Louis had the perfect evening planned out. It was a Thursday, and his plan was to drive home, put on some mindless TV show whilst he marked some essays and waited for his fiance to return home. When Harry did arrive, he planned to order pizza - since he knew that if Harry didn't want to cook, they wouldn't eat. Then he would put away his exam papers and Harry could stop replying to emails about cake stocks, and they'd put on some film - perhaps The Notebook if he was feeling kind, they'd cry together before retreating to bed to sleep before both had to be up early the next day to go to work.He did not plan on his evening taking this turn.____________________________AKA Louis is possibly the best teacher ever, Harry owns his own bakery, and both give up their night to help a young student in trouble.





	Keep You Sheltered From The Storm That's Raging On.

**Author's Note:**

> This felt kinda dark to write, but I spent a fair bit of time on it so I thought I'd post it anyway. I wrote it based on something similar that actually happened at my school, with a teacher that everyone thought was really strict but this actually happened with him. Please read the trigger warnings and don't read if you feel it may upset/trigger you. 
> 
> trigger warnings : descriptions of child abuse, violence, panic attacks, mental health issues, mentions of self harm (doesn't this sound like a happy ole fic huh) (it ends happily I promise) (please let me know if I've missed anything at all from this list!)
> 
> title from 'Lego House' By Ed Sheeran
> 
> comments, feedback and kudos would be appreciated if you enjoyed, plus any prompts which you can leave in the comments or in my tumblr ask box @/brooklynbis

Louis had the perfect evening planned out. It was a Thursday, and his plan was to drive home, put on some mindless TV show whilst he marked some essays and waited for his fiance to return home. When Harry did arrive, he planned to order pizza - since he knew that if Harry didn't want to cook, they wouldn't eat. Then he would put away his exam papers and Harry could stop replying to emails about cake stocks, and they'd put on some film - perhaps The Notebook if he was feeling kind, they'd cry together before retreating to bed to sleep before both had to be up early the next day to go to work. 

It was the little things in life that made Louis happy, and he loved the domesticity of his Thursday evening routines. 

Since Harry had the bakery open later tonight, due to some parade or something in town that was bound to drum up some business, Louis decided to stay a while at the school, knowing his chances of marking those essays were much higher there. 

Time flew by, and before he knew it, it was 7:30 and if he didn't leave now, he wouldn't be home before Harry, which would only worry the younger boy. He grinned, capping his pen and shoving it into the small pencil case he carried, carefully folding over the essays and shoving them into the binder he had organised for that particular class. He had made a note of the essays he had left to mark, shoving the binder into his bag and getting up, shrugging on his coat and scarf as he flicked the light switches off to his classroom, wandering down the empty dark corridors. He knew most of the staff had gone home hours ago, not wanting to spend longer there than they had to, but there was no rule against it. 

His mind was in another place as he slowly walked through the corridors, trying to make a decision about what he was going to pick up from the restaurant to eat on his way home when he heard it. 

It wasn't a loud noise, just a scuffle of shoes that made Louis' steps freeze. Obviously being in an empty, dark and silent school in the evening would put irrational thoughts in his mind, but he just scoffed to himself quietly and began to walk again when he heard it again, and decided he had to find out where the noises were coming from. 

He frowned, turning around to where he heard the noise, walking back down the corridor he had just walked down. 

It didn't take him long to discover the source of the scuffling. There was a dark figure, small, shorter than him wandering through the corridors, curled in on themselves. 

"Hey!" He called out, making the figure jump and freeze. "What are you doing here?" He demanded, getting closer and frowning as the figure didn't move, seemingly frozen to the spot. 

"I-I'm sorry, I know I'm not meant to be here," The feminine voice mumbled, as Louis' frown turned to one of confusion. He got closer, noticing the shaking of the girl who was clearly wearing the school uniform. 

"Bella? Why are you here?" He frowned, stopping when he stood in front of the student he had taught that afternoon, noticing the tear tracks on her cheeks. 

"I'm sorry, Mr Tomlinson, I know I shouldn't be here. I-I just wanted to leave, I don't k-know why I came here. I'll leave now, p-please don't tell anyone," She said shakily as she tried to dart past him. He frowned, stepping in front of her to stop her leaving, concerned for the young girl. 

"No, it's alright. Come with me for a minute, yeah? We should probably talk," he offered, as her eyes went wider (if that was even possible), nodding without saying a word. He double checked that she was following him as he began to walk back to his classroom, flicking the lights on and holding the door open for Bella to walk in. He put down his bag and shrugged off his coat, gesturing for her to sit on one of the desks at the front of the class. He could see the fear in her eyes, which only made him more worried. 

He quickly unlooped the scarf, draping it over his chair before sitting on his own desk, resting his feet on a chair as he faced her. 

"I'm sorry. Y-You can give me detention, or litter picking duty, or anything. J-Just please don't tell my parents," She said, breaking the silence as she avoided looking at her English teacher, scared that he had only led her in here to trap her, call her parents, tell her off. 

"Bella, it's alright. I've not brought you here to give you a punishment, promise," He said, offering a comforting smile when she looked at him for a brief second. "What's going on? Usually students don't wander through their school in the evening with tears pouring down their cheeks," he said as she shrugged, staring at a particular patch on the carpet. 

"Um, I-I didn't know where else to go?" She said, phrasing the sentence almost as a question. He was about to reply when he heard her mutter "Away from them," under her breath, and if he hadn't been paying attention, he wouldn't have heard her. 

"Away from who? Who do you have to get away from, Bella?" He coaxed, shuffling a bit as he waited for her response. He knew Harry's bakery was closing in about ten minutes, but right now the only thing plaguing his mind was what had upset the young teenager so much that she could barely speak. 

He only noticed she hadn't replied when he noticed her breathing speed up, and when he looked closer, he could see her skin had become clammy, and she was shaking uncontrollably. 

Louis knew there were boundaries, ones that if he crossed could result in him losing his job, but he could recognise a panic attack within an instant. He had dealt with many of Harry's in the eight years of knowing him, and a few of his own of course. 

"Bella, breathe. Take some deep breaths, you're alright," He said as she shook her head rapidly, gripping her nails into her palms. 

"Whoever you're trying to get away from isn't going to get to you here. I've locked the door, see, and the blinds were already down, it's just me and you, okay? Take some breaths, love, in and out, that's it," he encouraged when he noticed her following what he was saying, eyes flicking to the door and the windows which were indeed covered by blinds. 

It took him nearly ten minutes to calm down Bella, and she looked positively exhausted, slumping in on herself, almost as if she either didn't know that she was with her teacher, or just passing the point of caring about holding up a façade anymore. 

"Bella, who were you trying to get away from?" he asked again quietly, not wanting to scare her again. 

She didn't speak for a few minutes. Louis almost gave up and asked her another question when he saw her lips open to speak. 

"My mum," She whispered, making Louis' concerned frown only deepen. He could hear his phone vibrating in his coat pocket, but chose to ignore it. Harry would understand. 

"Is this something to do with the fact that you didn't want her to know you were here? Did you fight with her or something?" he suggested as she shook her head. 

"Promise nothing bad will happen to me?" She whispered. 

"If it's something serious, I can promise to do my best to help you," He offered as she took a few deep breaths, looking anywhere but at him. 

"She gets angry sometimes. Well, most of the time actually. She blames me for what happened, which is fair enough," She said quietly, Louis having to strain to hear her voice because of how quietly she spoke. 

"It was just little remarks. I didn't deal with them, I couldn't comprehend why she suddenly hated me. But she did. And nothing I did changed that. I got perfect grades, it wasn't good enough. I did extra curriculars to boost my eventual uni application, not good enough. I got a part time job to get out of the house on weekends, not good enough. She took the money to pay for her alcohol." She shrugged as it if were no big deal, only worrying Louis further. Bella clearly was having some issues with some form of emotional abuse, even if she didn't realise it. 

She stopped speaking for a moment to shrug off her blazer, making Louis gasp when he saw what the blazer was hiding. Bruises were littered over her arms (the only part he could see), along with scratches and cuts. Some looked intentional, caused by self harm. He grabbed her wrist gently, twisting her arm to inspect it. 

"Bella, did your mum do this to you?" He asked in shock, letting her arm go gently when she tugged. 

"It only started getting physical about a year ago, I swear. I don't know what changed, it was fine before that. It was just normal, I was used to it, but she slapped me one night. My fifteenth birthday, actually," She chuckled, although they both knew there was no humour in the situation at all. 

"I had to start wearing foundation the following day, she left the handprint on my cheek. It became a regular thing after that. Angry? Take it out on Bella. Sad? Take it out on Bella. Drunk? Take it out on Bella." 

"What made you come here tonight?" 

"She wouldn't think to look for me here. Or rather, send 'concerned' friends looking for me here. She thinks I skive school most of the time because I supposedly hate it so much, so she'd never think I'd come here of my own accord. It's safe. She doesn't realise that school is my one safe sanctuary from her, unless I get in trouble," She added. 

"Why tonight? What did she do tonight?" He asked softly, not wanting to push her too far but he knew that he wouldn't be watching The Notebook with Harry tonight. 

"Knife," She said quietly, so bluntly yet so casually. It shocked him. "She was drunker than usual, and angry. She knew I'd been avoiding her in town all evening, so it made her madder when I got home. I don't know if she would've tried if she was sober, but when is she ever sober?" She chuckled tearfully, making Louis' heart ache. She was so young, too young for this. 

"I got away before she managed anything. But she'd beaten me first, hence this. I figured I could just wander here for the night and then hide in the loos until everyone began to arrive," She shrugged as Louis squeezed her shoulder comfortingly. 

"But I should probably get going, I know you want to go home, sorry for wasting your time," She said, smiling regretfully as she began to get up, but Louis quickly stood, blocking her path. 

"Bella, I'm not letting you go home to her. She tried to attack you with a knife," He emphasised to her. 

"It's fine, honestly. I'm sure she'll have forgotten about the knife by now, she might even be passed out," She said hopefully as he shook his head. 

"I can't let you go home. Even if I didn't give a single fuck about my students, I have a legal obligation to try and sort this out, or call people that can, alright? You don't have to put on your strong front anymore," He reminded her as she shook her head, sighing. 

"She'll just get angrier if I don't go home," She mumbled, dropping her head. 

"If I have my way, you won't be going home to her again, okay?" He reassured her as she looked up at him, a shred of hope shining in her eyes. 

"Really? You mean that?" She whispered as he nodded determinedly. 

"I promise, Bella. We'll sort this out." 

___________________________________

"Lou? Where are you? I got home and you weren't here, you usually are," Harry said as he picked up Louis' call. It had been nearly an hour since Harry had finished working, and he knew Harry had been worried, judging by the amount of missed calls he had. 

"I'm just at the school, love. I don't think I'll be home for a while though, so don't bother waiting up," he said softly as he watched Bella wander around the empty staff room. Once he had reassured Bella countless times that they wouldn't get in trouble, they left his classroom and wandered down to reception, using their phones as flashlights so they didn't fall down any stairs until Louis got to the light switch and turned on the lights in reception before unlocking the staff room and letting her in. 

"Why? Is everything alright, babe?" 

"Not really. Give me a minute," He said quietly before holding the call, taking the phone away from his ear. 

"Bella, I'm just gonna step outside a minute. Do you mind if I tell my partner what's going on so he doesn't drive himself insane with worry and deprive himself of sleep for me?" Louis asked as Bella shrugged, nodding. 

With Bella's approval, he stepped into the cold reception, waiting until the door was fully closed before going back to his phone call. 

"Hey love," He said softly. 

"Are you alright, Lou? Tell me you're okay," Harry asked, a tone of desperation in his voice. 

"Yeah, I'm fine Haz. I was about to come home when I found one of my students wandering the hallways. She was in a right state, I couldn't just send her home," Louis sighed, leaning against the wall as he loosened his tie and undid his top button, getting the feeling he was going to be there for a while. 

"Is she alright? Why was she there?" 

"She was hiding from her mum. I can't let her go back home, Hazza. I know I'm skipping out on date night, and I'm so sorry, love, but she's had to deal with a lot of shit, and she's trusting me to sort it out for her," Louis sighed as Harry instantly protested. 

"It's alright, I get it. We'll just do it another night, it's cool. Why can't she go back home?" Harry insisted, worried he was overstepping some lines by asking Louis all these questions. 

"Her mother's abusing her. Ever since she was a little kid, verbal, emotional and apparently physically too. S-She came at her with a knife tonight, Haz," Louis said, his voice cracking. He willed himself to hold back his tears, knowing he was in charge in this situation, knowing he had to be strong so that Bella wouldn't get too scared. 

"Shit, Lou. What are you going to do?" Harry asked, concern lacing his tone now. 

"I don't know. I think I'm gonna call Brooke and let her know what's going on before it gets too late, plus I don't know if our presence will set off some sort of alarm. She'll either take it out of my hands or I'll deal with it. Either way, I'm staying here until she's safe. I wouldn't be able to sleep, knowing I just left when she trusted me," Louis shrugged. 

"No, of course. You need to be there. What can I do to help?" he asked immediately. 

"Haz, you don't have to do anything. You've been working all day," Louis protested weakly, knowing he wouldn't fight too hard to keep Harry away. 

"So have you. Have you both eaten?" he asked instead. 

"I haven't, and I doubt Bella has," he said quietly. 

"Right, that's what I'll do first thing. Fancy anything in particular?" He asked as Louis heard him begin to shuffle around. 

"Not really, my appetite has gone," Louis admitted as Harry sighed. 

"You need to eat babe, I think you're in for a long night. Pizza okay?" Harry suggested. 

"Yeah, I guess. Thank you, I love you," Louis said, a small smile on his face despite everything else that was going on around him. 

"You don't need to thank me, I love you too. Should I just come to the front, or..?" Harry asked as Louis heard him leaving their house, keys distantly jingling. 

"Yeah, give me a ring when you're outside and I'll let you in," Louis answered, rubbing his face to rub the tiredness out of his eyes. 

"Okay. See you in a bit." 

Louis took a moment to compose himself after that before quietly opening the staff room door, smiling when he saw Bella had kicked her shoes off, tucked up on one of the sofas, shaking slightly from the cold and probably from nerves too. 

"My husband's gonna bring us some food, if you don't mind. I presume you haven't eaten?" he asked as he turned on the light over the small kitchen counter, starting to boil the kettle as he took his usual mug and one of the spare ones to make some tea. 

"No," She mumbled. There was silence as he made the tea, which she broke by asking a question. "Is your husband nice?" 

At the mention of Harry, Louis smiled, not stopping making the tea. 

"I personally think he's one of the most amazing people I've ever met, but I guess you could say I'm a tad biased," he chuckled, smiling when he noticed a small giggle emerge from behind him. He carefully put down the two mugs on the wooden coffee table before sitting down in one of the chairs. 

"Are you sure she can't get in?" Bella asked, nervously looking around. 

"I promise, even if she finds you, she can't get in. Everything's locked. And if, by some miracle, she does get in, I'm not gonna let anything happen, alright?" he reassured her as she looked at him for a moment before nodding and grabbing the steaming mug, letting the heat ground her. 

"Can you just talk for a while? Distractions help," She murmured as he nodded. 

"What did you want to talk about? The essay you did that I finished marking and may have to use as an exemplar?" Louis suggested, making her blush furiously as she shook her head. 

"Talk about your partner. You're happy when you talk about him," She asked, as he nodded. 

"Yeah, I am. What a funny thing love is, huh?" he asked with a chuckle. 

"What's he like?" 

"He's funny. He's the kind of person that loves cheesy jokes, that nobody finds funny except himself. And then you're just sat in a silent room as he laughs at his own joke, and you can't help but laugh with him, if only at the fact that he found his joke so funny. He owns his own bakery, it's all he's ever wanted to do, since he was your age. Everybody told him that it was impractical, and that he'd get nowhere, that he ought to go to university and get a degree like the rest of his friends, but that just spurred him on more," He said as a small smile worked its way onto her face. The soft, happy look he had on his face was unlike anything she had ever seen before. When he was teaching and when he wasn't were two completely contrasting appearances. 

"He likes sappy rom coms too, so I've had to sit through my fair share of those. And I've given up horror because they scare him too much. But it's alright, because he loves them and I love him, so it's worth it," Louis shrugged. 

"Which film is his favourite?" She asked. 

"I don't know if it counts as a rom com, but he absolutely loves The Notebook. I can see why, like c'mon, forget about Ryan Gosling, bloody James Marsden is in it, but I'm meant to be a manly man and even I can't hold back my tears at that film. And he bloody well knows it too," Louis chuckled. 

"The Notebook is an amazing film though. It's easier to lose yourself in somebody else's pain for a couple of hours rather than face your own," She said, turning the conversation serious suddenly. His phone ringing interrupted the silence that had enveloped the room, Louis smiling when he recognised their cheesy selfie as his contact picture. 

"That'll be him. I'm just gonna go let him in and then I'll be right back, okay? Then we'll figure out what to do," he nodded, getting up as fright suddenly overtook her face. 

"Where are you going?" She asked quietly. It seemed hard to believe that this fragile, terrified girl was sixteen, but it was understandable judging the amount of trauma she had been through. 

"Only out to the front a minute, I need to unlock the door," Louis said as she nodded. 

"Can I come with you? Don't really wanna be alone," She asked, avoiding eye contact again, as if she was embarrassed to ask. 

"'Course you can, c'mon. That food won't stay warm forever," He said, making her nod as she got up quickly, abandoning her shoes entirely to walk around the school in her tights. Louis didn't see the harm in it. 

The reception area was significantly colder than the staff room, noticed by the way Bella's shivering increased significantly. It didn't take them long to reach the door, Bella hanging back a bit in case it was some sort of hoax, letting Louis unlock the door. 

He smiled when he saw his husband stood outside, wrapped up warm in a coat and beanie, holding two pizza boxes, along with a few that he must've brought home from the bakery that evening. 

"Hi," he said as he let Harry come out of the cold, immediately locking the door behind him before turning around and quickly kissing Harry, taking a couple of the boxes from him. 

"You alright?" Harry murmured as Louis nodded. 

"Yeah. You didn't have to come here, y'know," he mumbled back, tugging on Harry's coat sleeve. 

"I want to be here," He promised, kissing his cheek fleetingly before going through the door leading into reception. Harry frowned as he laid eyes on Bella, who had sat down on one of the chairs, keeping her eyes on the doors Louis had left through. 

"You're Bella?" he frowned as her eyes lit up, jumping up and running to Harry, hugging his middle instantly. He tried his best to return the hug immediately, thanking Louis with his eyes as he took the pizza boxes, putting them in the staff room before returning. 

"Wait, how do you know her?" Louis frowned as Bella didn't move from where she was cuddled into his side. 

"She comes into the bakery all the time, pretty much until we close each night. You never told me your family issues were this bad," Harry mumbled to her, swaying from side to side gently when he felt tears begin to dampen his thin jacket. 

"There was no need. It was fine. But Mr Tomlinson, you never told me you were married to the kind dude from the bakery! And you never told me you owned the fucking place!" She said, staring between the two as they both chuckled. 

"How else did you think I got away with giving you free pastries when you left each night?" Harry chuckled, as she shrugged. 

"Also, I think Louis will do fine for now, love. Now c'mon, this food is going cold."

_________________________________

The headmistress, Brooke Albertay, was understandably panicked when Louis rung her and told her the situation on his hands. She was very close to coming back to the school herself to sort it out, but Louis reassured her that he had it under control (he didn't but he would damn well try) and that he'd keep her updated. 

Ever since they had finished eating the food Harry had delivered to them, Louis had been out in reception making phone calls, trying to find out some information on who to call, what to do and the like. Brooke had given him some starting points, which was useful. At some point, Harry had brought him a blanket from the boot of his car, draping it over Louis' shoulder as he delivered a cup of tea and a kiss on the cheek. 

Thankfully, Bella had remained in the staff room the whole time. She had a real issue with being left alone, but Louis didn't want her to hear his angry conversations as he tried to sort this out for her. Harry had been staying in the staff room with her, occasionally bringing him things to keep him warm and hydrated. 

"You could've told me, y'know. You didn't have to keep going back to her," Harry said quietly after he'd made his third trip to reception with a cup of tea for Louis. 

"I didn't know you that well, Harry. You were just the kind dude from the bakery who never complained when I spent hours there, even when I couldn't afford to buy anything. You wouldn't have been able to do anything," She shrugged in return, and Harry couldn't stand how she acted like her whole situation was no big deal. He couldn't find it within himself to be mad at her though. 

"You know I would've. You could've come and stayed with us whilst we sorted it out, got her arrested and such. I wouldn't have just sent you home," Harry insisted as he ran a hand through his hair. 

"Then she would've spun the story that you'd abducted me or whatever and had you arrested," She said pointedly as he shook his head. He didn't reply, letting the silence wash over them. He noticed Bella trying to fight sleep, probably out of fear. 

"Bella, you can go to sleep if you want. Nothing's going to happen to you here, neither of us will let it," he reminded her as she shook her head. 

"She'll get to me," she mumbled as she tugged at her school skirt, trying to make it longer. 

"We won't let that happen, you're safe," he replied determinedly, as she stopped before looking at him. 

"Can I have a hug? I know Mr Tomlinson can't, but you're not a teacher or anything," She mumbled nervously as he smiled and opened his arms, nodding as she quickly moved from the chair she was occupying to the sofa he was sat on. 

It didn't take her long to get comfortable and drift off once she felt protected, and Harry could finally relax. 

This was definitely not how he planned on his evening going. 

He planned to keep the bakery open until later, serving hot drinks and pastries to anybody enjoying the parades tonight. Then, he would box up any leftovers, and walk home. Louis either would've cooked or ordered takeaway, and they'd sit down and watch a movie and cuddle. 

But when he got the call from Louis that he was still at the school, helping a student, he pushed it all aside. Yes, that meant no movie tonight, but this was much more important, to both of them at this point. 

Harry wasn't expecting the quiet teenager who came into his bakery every evening after school and all day every weekend to be the one Louis had to help. Yes, she was quiet, and was clearly reluctant to go home each evening when Harry closed up. Sometimes he would let her stay past closing, whilst he cleaned down and prepped for the next day. Sometimes he'd sit down and have a hot drink with her. More often than not, he'd give her some pastries when she had to leave. He presumed it was some sort of family issues, like divorced parents, or annoying younger siblings. 

He never imagined anything of this magnitude being the reason for her reluctance. 

_____________________

It took Louis until six in the morning to finally get the situation sorted. He was instructed to keep Bella in the building and to keep her location unknown whilst they tried to find her mother (who had gone walkabout, presumably to try and find her daughter) and arrest her. 

When they did find her mother, she still had the knife and a bottle of alcohol hidden under her coat. She had been found scarily close to the school, which scared Louis, but he wasn't about to tell Bella that. 

"Is it sorted?" Harry asked quietly when Louis came back into the staff room, looking exhausted, but at least he was no longer on hold with anybody. 

"Yeah, they're just locking her mother up in a cell and then they're going to come and get her. I think they mentioned something about grandparents looking after her," Louis said, yawning as he boiled the kettle for what must've been his seventh cup of tea of the night. 

"That's good. I'm proud of you," Harry said as he watched Louis make the tea. Bella was thankfully still asleep in his arms, having woken up from a nightmare a couple of hours earlier. 

"I've gotta take this a minute, it's Brooke," Louis sighed as he heard his phone ring again, abandoning the tea once he added the water, leaving the room again as he swiped to accept the call. 

"Morning, Louis. Did you get the situation sorted?" She said as he picked up. 

"Morning, Brooke. Yeah, we're almost sorted now, should be done before anybody turns up," Louis said. 

"What happened?"

"Social services arranged for Bella's grandparents to come down and look after her, since they didn't think moving her to the other side of the country would be the best option for her right now. They arrested her mother, and then they're going to pick her up, and take her somewhere safer until her grandparents arrive," Louis informed the headmistress as he sat down on one of the soft chairs in reception, rubbing his hand up and down his arm to try and keep warm. 

"Well done Louis, I'm glad you were the one there to handle it. I'll be in shortly anyway," She replied, making him smile slightly despite his tiredness. 

"Thanks, Brooke. See you in a short while then?" He asked, as she agreed and they said their goodbyes. 

_______________________________

"Bella, you need to wake up," Harry said quietly as he tried to gently wake the teenager, careful not to frighten her again. 

"Why? Is she here?" She mumbled, eyes opening immediately at the thought. 

"No, no, quite the opposite. The police have arrested her, and given statements and such, there should be enough evidence to send her to jail with only a short trial at best," Louis said with a smile as he crouched down beside Harry. 

"Really? You're not joking?" She asked, not believing him as she felt tears come to her eyes, and both Louis and Harry smiled. 

"Nope, she was arrested roughly 2 hours ago, lovely. You're safe now!" Harry cheered with a smile on his face. He knew there was still a lot more to do, and he knew it would probably take Bella a lot of therapy to come to terms with what had happened, but he had some hope that she was going to be okay. 

They both nearly toppled over from their crouching positions as she hugged them both tightly. 

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," She repeatedly whispered, and neither of them mentioned about the damp patch they could feel developing on their shoulders. 

There was the noise of somebody entering the building from out in reception, making Bella jump, even on reflex. 

"It's alright, it's probably only Miss Albertay," Louis reassured her, getting up and peaking his head out of the door. Sure enough, he could see Brooke Albertay stood at the reception desk, checking something on a computer. For a headteacher, she was extremely young, only being in her late thirties. She was dressed ready for the day, in a khaki green pencil skirt and a patterned shirt, black heels on her feet. 

"Hey Brooke," Louis greeted, catching her attention as he exited the staff room, leaving the door open. 

"Louis! I'm so sorry I couldn't help last night, Tom was on the night shift and I had nobody to look after Aimee and Kyle, otherwise I would've been here-" 

"Chill, it's all good. We got it sorted eventually," Louis replied as she smiled, nodding, clicking the power button on the computer before standing up straight. 

"Is she still here?" Brooke asked quietly, as he nodded, looking in the direction of the staff room. 

"I think a social worker is arriving soon, he didn't give a time slot though. They gave her a male social worker, less chance of triggering her I presume," Louis answered, equally as quiet. "Also, Harry's here, hope you don't mind." he admitted sheepishly. He and Brooke were close enough outside of work to know a lot of each other's personal lives. She and Harry had been friends since they were young, he actually helped Louis to get the job as a teacher there so quickly. They had become good friends. 

"Of course I don't, I trust both of you," She said quickly. 

"Turns out Bella used to spend most of her evenings at his bakery until he closed each night, they know each other fairly well." 

Brooke didn't get a chance to reply as the door to the school opened, revealing a young man, wearing a shirt and tie with a pair of skinny jeans, a coat and scarf pulled over the top. 

"Hi, I'm Aaron, the social worker? Apparently there was a child abuse case reported here?" he greeted as he approached the two. 

"I'm gonna go tell her he's here," Louis whispered to Brooke, patting her arm and leaving as she greeted him. 

________________________________

Louis felt weird saying goodbye to Bella. He knew that she would be in safe hands now, but he felt a weird protective urge over her after spending the night here looking after her. She had hugged him tightly after Brooke had reassured her he wouldn't get in trouble for it, and she had done the same to Harry before she had to leave. Brooke had promised Bella to take as much time away as she needed, and that she'd still have a place here when she returned. 

"Now, there's only about half an hour until staff should start arriving, I suggest you go home for the day before people see how tired you look," Brooke joked as she entered the staff room, pulling open the blinds as she walked around the room. 

"Brooke, I have a day full of classes today. I'll go home and change and freshen up, but I'll be back in time for first lesson," Louis sighed. 

"Louis, c'mon now, don't be silly. I'll just get cover for your lessons for the day, you need to sleep."

"I'll be back in like an hour or so!" Louis called cheerfully as he grabbed his bag and coat, walking out of the room and popping his head back in quickly. 

"Want a lift Curly?" he said, giving a cheeky smile to his husband, who nodded, saying goodbye to Brooke before following Louis out of the school. 

"You should take her offer," Harry said once they were driving away from the school and back towards their tiny little house. 

"I'm fine, I have lessons to teach," Louis sighed as Harry accepted it. 

"Fine. If you're not gonna be home, I'm still gonna open the bakery same as normal. Can't sleep without you there anyway. Promise you'll let me know if you change your mind and I'll close up?" Harry asked hopefully as Louis nodded, gently placing a hand on Harry's thigh without taking his eyes off the road. 

"Promise." 

____________________________�

Thankfully, Louis had arrived back at the school perfectly on time, and looking how he usually did, so none of the students had any idea of what had happened to Bella overnight. That was the way he wanted it to stay. Brooke had informed the staff that morning of the night's events briefly (in a meeting that he might've missed) but it hadn't gone any further than that. 

"Knock knock, I bring coffee and croissants," Louis heard as his eyes flicked open again, seeing Zayn stood at his classroom door, bearing coffee and croissants as he promised. 

"Dude, you look shit. Go home," Zayn said softly as he nudged the door closed as he entered, setting the coffee and croissant down on Louis' desk. 

"I'm fine, man. Just thought I'd catch a few z's before lunch was over," Louis joked, sipping the coffee before taking a bit of the warm croissant he must've picked up somewhere over lunch. 

"I still can't believe you stayed here all night," Zayn sighed as he perched on the corner of Louis' desk. 

"It's what any of us would've done," Louis shrugged. He didn't see himself as some sort of hero, he only saw himself as a human being with an ounce of decency. 

"It's a good thing you were still here, I guess. God knows what would've happened otherwise," Zayn said quietly as Louis nodded, and they sat in silence whilst Louis finished the lunch Zayn had delivered. 

"It wouldn't kill you to go home and get some sleep, surely? You can just email your classes," Zayn pushed again as Louis sighed, sitting forward and rubbing his face a few times before looking up at him through tired eyes. 

"I can't just abandon my classes because I've had a long night," He said, rubbing his eyes again. 

"You're not abandoning them, Lou. You're taking some time to yourself after you did something incredibly selfless last night. It's the least you deserve. Plus, Harry looked rather tired when I visited him earlier for your lunch," Zayn said with a smirk, knowing that using the Harry card would work on him. 

"Why, how tired?" Louis frowned. 

"Very. Tired as in I've-been-up-with-my-husband-and-his-student-all-night tired. I wasn't the only one to pass comment on how tired he looked," Zayn replied casually as Louis sighed. 

"Man, just go. I can cover your lesson after lunch, I don't have a class then. And I'm sure we can sort something for the last two lessons of the day," Zayn offered as Louis breathed a sigh of relief. 

"Thank you so much, Zayn. I'll go and let Brooke know before I leave. You're the best," Louis said as he got up quickly and hugged the younger history teacher before quickly gathering his stuff and leaving. 

It didn't take him long to reach Brooke's office, knocking on the door before letting himself in quietly. She smiled, mouthing hello from where she was sat listening to somebody on the phone, looking very bored. 

"Yes, yes, I understand. Meeting on Monday afternoon, got it. Okay, thank you, bye," She said as she made a note of something before looking up at Louis. 

"Please tell me you're finally going home," She said light-heartedly with a smile as he nodded. 

"If that's still alright with you? Zayn said that Harry looked tired at work, so I'm gonna go pick him up and make him sleep," Louis chuckled as he put down his bag to pull his coat on. 

"Of course it is, but you have to promise me something," She said as she got up from her chair and walked over to him. "Get some sleep yourself, Lou. You look shattered."

"So I keep being told," He laughed, and they hugged before he said his goodbyes and left the school for the day. 

______________________________

"Hi," Louis said quietly when he entered the empty bakery, lunch rush having just passed. 

"Hi! Please tell me this means I get to shut and we get to cuddle," Harry said as he turned around from the tray of baked goods he was currently tubbing up for later use. 

"I mean, I was thinking we could cuddle in our bed, and not here, but yeah," Louis admitted, his smile growing when he noticed Harry's happy little clap as he ran past Louis to flip the shop sign to closed. 

"Anything I can help with so we can leave quicker?" Louis asked as he lay his jacket over a table, resting his car keys and phone on top of it gently. 

"Not really, I'm gonna leave most of it and come in Sunday for a couple hours to sort it all out for Monday," Harry said, quickly taking the empty tray out back to rinse, before hanging up his apron and grabbing his own belongings. 

"My God, am I glad you saw sense. I've been wanting to cuddle and sleep all day," Harry complained as they left the shop, Harry locking the door behind them. 

"Mhm, me too love," Louis agreed as they got into the car. 

They drove in silence, neither bothering to turn on the radio as the bakery was only a short distance from their house anyway. 

"Might have to let Mabel out and feed her before I come up, but you go up and get ready for bed, perhaps pick out a TV show or something we can watch?" Harry suggested as he heard the faint barking of their two year old Labrador, Mabel. 

"Sounds like a plan. Anything in particular?" Louis asked as he locked the car, following Harry into the house. He dropped the pile of exam papers he had collected to mark over the weekend on the table in the hallway, hanging up his bag and coat before toeing off his shoes and greeting Mabel, who was way too excited that they were both home earlier than expected. 

"I don't think so, just nothing we actually want to pay attention to," Harry chuckled as he called Mabel and shook her food container, causing the excitable dog to run in his direction. 

It didn't take Louis long to walk upstairs and into their small but cosy bedroom, quickly shedding the shirt, tie and trousers onto the floor, pulling on a cotton tshirt and crouching down in front of their TV stand, selecting How I Met Your Mother, as they had watched it many times before. 

"She's gone back to sleep down there, so I think we're alright for a few hours," Harry chuckled as he entered the bedroom, seeing his husband looking incredibly small in their bed, flicking through the episodes to find his favourite one. 

"That's good," Louis commented, not taking his eyes off the TV as he yawned loudly, making Harry giggle as he slowly took off his clothes before joining Louis in the bed. 

"Found it!" he said triumphantly as he pressed play, quick to wrap his arms around Harry so he could snuggle closer, their body heat keeping each other warm. 

"We should probably stop trying to fight sleep," Harry mumbled a couple of episodes in as he felt himself fighting his eyes drooping closed every couple of minutes or so. 

"Mhm, probably," Louis hummed in agreement as he snuggled down further in the bed, slowly letting his eyes close as he tightened his grip around Harry's stomach. 

"C'mon, nap time," Louis said, much like a child, making Harry chuckle as he paused the TV and lay down fully, turning to face Louis and admire him for a moment. His eyes were delicately closed, worry lines slowly easing as he faded into sleep, and he looked incredibly young in that moment. 

"Stop staring n sleep," Louis murmured, barely opening his eyes as he pressed his face against Harry's warm chest, balling his hands up into fists as Harry wrapped his arms around Louis' back. 

"M'kay. Love you Boo."

"Love you too Haz."


End file.
